I always find it interesting the different ways people will accomplish an exercise if the equipment they generally prefer to use is occupied.

To explain exactly what I mean, I’ll provide a quick example. Jimbo and I were trying to get in one of our last workouts of our college careers. We were exercising chest & back, using the “push & pull” concept. For some reason, unbeknown to me, the gym was packed during finals week (I’ll assume everyone had finished studying…). The four bench presses were filled. It seemed as though everyone in the gym wanted to exercise their chests at the same time.

Rather than just wait around forever, we decided to take a weight rack generally used for squatting (a quick googling indicated its called a “power rack”?), and threw a bench under in the middle. We then lowered the bar, and essentially crafted an impromptu bench press.

As long as you understand the motion and muscle which each exercise you perform is working, creativity can be a very important tool, especially for those traveling. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve exercised different muscles with equipment not originally designed for that purpose (intentionally).

If you have any exercises you’ve had to “re-create” post them in the comments, we’d love to hear them!